By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - The ASX 200 was 67.60 points or 0.91% higher at 7,457.70 in Wednesday’s mid-morning deals, with market participants tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street, led by a 1.41% gain on the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite.
ASX 200 Futures were trading 0.08% higher.
Among stocks, mining heavyweights were mixed as Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) eased 0.12%, BHP Billiton Ltd (ASX:BHP) gained 1.65%, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (ASX:FMG) dipped 1.09% after Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) downgraded it to a “sell” rating.
Rare earth miners lifted with Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS) adding 0.57%, Magnis Resources Ltd (ASX:MNS) up 2.8%, Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX:AVZ) adding 2.27% and Lynas Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:LYC) gaining 1.27%.
Gold miners were also higher as spot prices lifted. St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM) added 3%, Gold Road Resources Ltd (ASX:GOR) gained 1.74%, Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX:NCM) lifted 3.74%, Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX:NST) added 2.97%, Perseus Mining Ltd (ASX:PRU) gained 1.63%, Chalice Gold Mines Ltd (ASX:CHN) lifted 2.65% and Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX:EVN) rallied 4.15%.
Meantime, technology companies rallied with Appen Ltd (ASX:APX) surging 4.29%, Megaport Ltd (ASX:MP1) up 2.32%, Novonix Ltd (ASX:NVX) adding 2.01%, Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX:BRN) lifting 2.5%, Xero Ltd (ASX:XRO) gaining 2.72% and Wisetech Global Ltd (ASX:WTC) up 1.57%.
BNPL names were sharply higher as Zip Co Ltd (ASX:Z1P) advanced 3.32% and Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX:APT) jumped 5.71% on news that the Bank of Spain has approved Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) takeover of the buy now, pay later giant.
Financials were mostly higher with Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX:MQG) up 2.09%, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ASX:ANZ) up 0.13% and Westpac Banking Corp (ASX:WBC) adding 0.09% while Commonwealth Bank Of Australia (ASX:CBA) and National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX:NAB) fell 0.1% apiece.
Mesoblast Ltd (ASX:MSB) rose 4.9% after announcing positive results from a phase 3 trial of its allogeneic cell therapy rexlemestrocel-L’s use in treating chronic low back pain associated with degenerative disc disease.
On the bond markets, Australia 10-Year yields were at 1.843% while United States 10-Year rates were at 1.736%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 0.12% to 12,847.